It was already the end of September according to the solar calendar, and the weather was still very hot, with the average temperature around twenty-seven degrees. Yet, the woman wore a thick down jacket, a heavy hat, and was wrapped up tightly. Even so, she still shivered from the cold.
Although there were many records of difficult and complicated diseases in the dical books left by my grandfather, there was no ntion of this illness.
"Hello, Doctor Xu, I am Zhou Qiancheng from Jin City." Zhou Qiancheng greeted politely. If Gou Shengli had not ntioned beforehand that Xu Wendong was very young, he would never have believed that the young man before him possessed such miraculous dical skills, capable of bringing the dead back to life.
"This is my daughter, Chuxia. She contracted a strange illness. I heard from Old Gou that your dical skills are extraordinary, so we rushed here, hoping you could take a look."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Chuxia’s trembling voice rang out: "Dad, we’ve used so many connections, sought out so many famous doctors. Every one of them is a renowned physician in the field of traditional Chinese dicine. Why would you believe a young, inexperienced person like him?"
"This clearly is a desperate asure in dire straits. I absolutely won’t allow him to treat ; I’m afraid I won’t live past three days after his treatnt!" As she spoke, she glanced at Xu Wendong with eyes full of disdain, completely not believing that soone of similar age to herself could cure her illness.
"Be quiet, do not be disrespectful to Doctor Xu!" Zhou Qiancheng reprimanded sternly.
"No worries!" Xu Wendong waved his hand, saying: "It’s quite normal for Miss Zhou not to believe in my dical skills. After all, at my age, most people are apprentices, responsible for fetching and boiling dicine."
Xu Wendong himself was quite amiable, especially since this was a friend introduced by Gou Shengli. He looked at Zhou Chuxia, who had a delicate face like a doll, and said: "If I’m not mistaken, Miss Zhou should have been suffering from this strange illness since childhood, but it wasn’t as painful when it first appeared in her early years."
"Yes, yes, yes, just as Doctor Xu said!" Zhou Qiancheng quickly said, "My daughter’s illness first appeared when she was six. At that ti, it attacked once a year and lasted for more than ten days each ti. However, as she grew older, the frequency and duration increased. This year, she’s already had two episodes, each lasting more than two months."
"Now, it’s better since the weather is hot. She can still go out wearing a thick down jacket. But if it gets cold, she doesn’t dare to step out the door and has to stay in bed all day, with the air conditioner set to thirty degrees."
"I’ve also consulted many doctors, but they were helpless, not even knowing what kind of disease she had!" He sighed, eyes filled with worry.
"This is an illness brought from the womb!" Xu Wendong smiled and said, "If I’m not mistaken, your wife must have fallen into water in the winter while pregnant with her, around three months."
Zhou Qiancheng felt a chill down his spine and exclaid: "Damn, how did you know?"
Zhou Xiazhi’s pupils were also filled with astonishnt, not expecting Xu Wendong to reveal the news of her mother falling into water during her pregnancy.
Gou Shengli grinned and said: "Old Zhou, keep it low, keep it low. For Doctor Xu, this is basic operation. As they say on the internet, it’s just standard, don’t be amazed!"
Seeing the shock in the father and daughter’s eyes, Xu Wendong said, "Three months is very fragile for a fetus, a crucial period in the ten months of pregnancy, as even a slight mishap could result in a miscarriage. That’s why many people wait until after three months to share the pregnancy news."
Gou Shengli nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, there is indeed such a saying. My wife also shared the pregnancy news with the family after three months."
Xu Wendong added, "Your wife fell into the water precisely at three months. If not three months, your daughter wouldn’t have been born at all. Though she ca into this world, cold poison invaded her body and bone marrow, causing her current condition."
Zhou Qiancheng exclaid in shock: "Exactly as you said! My wife was from the Northeast, and while pregnant, she had a peculiar craving for Northeast frozen pears. Although the winter in Jin City is also cold, I got her many frozen pears, but they couldn’t compare to those frozen at below minus twenty or thirty degrees in the Northeast."
"But she was just pregnant, and I didn’t dare let her travel long distances back to the Northeast."
"After three months of pregnancy, we had a checkup at the hospital. Learning that she could return to the Northeast, we took the train back, aiming to let her eat what she craved and share the pregnancy joy with her parents."
"But on the third day back, while participating in a local winter fishing event, an accident occurred. The ice cracked, and she fell into the lake. Luckily, the rescue was tily, pulling her back from the gates of hell."
He sighed, eyes showing pain, "Though rescued, her body beca weak. She held on until the end, naming our daughter Xiazhi after her first cry before leaving us."
"The na Xiazhi was ant to counter the drowning’s influence on her."
"Alas, I bla myself, bla myself!"
"If I hadn’t insisted on watching the winter fishing, things wouldn’t have turned out this way." Speaking of this, the fifty-odd-year-old man couldn’t help but weep.
He felt he had failed his wife and his daughter.
"I’ve already decided, if Xiazhi’s illness can’t be cured, I’ll go with her."
"The two of them are the most important people in my life, and I can’t let them both go alone."
"Dad, you’re saying this again!" Zhou Xiazhi also started crying: "I’ve told you, you shouldn’t live for , nor for Mom, you should live for yourself."
"You need to let and Mom have so thoughts in this world!"
Gou Shengli felt his nose tingling at this sight and said gently: "Father and daughter, don’t be so sad now. Doctor Xu’s dical skills are miraculous. He will surely find a way to treat Xiazhi."
Hearing this, they both stopped crying, nervously looking at Xu Wendong. Even Zhou Xiazhi, who had not believed in him previously, now held a glimr of hope, as he was truly different from other doctors.
"I can’t say I can cure this illness completely, but I can alleviate Miss Zhou’s symptoms," Xu Wendong didn’t make an absolute statent since it was a disease from the womb and already deeply rooted; it was challenging even for him.
Zhou Qiancheng’s eyes lit up: "Doctor Xu, you can really relieve my daughter’s symptoms?"
Xu Wendong nodded: "Yes, I can, but the treatnt process is a bit special, and I’m not sure if Miss Zhou can accept it."
Zhou Xiazhi couldn’t help but ask: "What’s so special about it?"
Xu Wendong cleared his throat: "You and I will rge Yin and Yang, using my Yang energy to dilute the cold toxin in your body."
User Comments
0 comments from readers